Puppy waits 2 days at rest stop for owner to return

Gene Hill probably said it best in “The Dog Man": “Nobody can fully understand the meaning of love unless he’s owned a dog.” That statement certainly was true for truck driver Michael Siau, who drove two days out of his way to pick up his dog and best friend Rambo from Hannibal, Mo., where he had accidentally left the dog.

Gene Hill probably said it best in “The Dog Man": “Nobody can fully understand the meaning of love unless he’s owned a dog.”

That statement certainly was true for truck driver Michael Siau, who drove two days out of his way to pick up his dog and best friend Rambo from Hannibal.

Truck driver Siau was en route to North Dakota and made it all the way to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when he realized Rambo wasn’t in the back seat. Hannibal’s rest stop - about 170 miles back - was the only logical place Rambo could’ve gotten out out of the truck, Siau figured, and that’s where Hannibal Animal Control Officer Tim Ledbetter found the 9-month-old puppy patiently waiting for his owner.

“In about 60 seconds, he would have been gone,” Ledbetter told Siau in the lobby of the Hannibal Police Department. A family saw Rambo at the rest stop and were planning to take the dog home. But Ledbetter arrived just in time, telling the family the dog was left behind by a trucker passing through.

Reunited

Siau couldn’t drive around Hannibal with his truck, which was loaded with a transport of mangled used cars, so a delivery pickup truck for GateHouse Media newspaper Hannibal Courier-Post served as his escort.

With a leash and a few thank you cards to hand out to those who took the time to find Rambo, Siau introduced himself to the staff at the Northeast Missouri Humane Society, and then one of the employees came out with a special gift.

The puppy looked around, didn’t make direct eye contact with the stout man decked out in a navy blue polo and jeans, and appeared to be nervous, but once he heard Siau calling his name, the Yorkie began to whimper.

“Hey, Rambo,” Siau said. “Did you miss Daddy?”

Rambo trembled and squirmed. He climbed on top of his master’s shoulder and kissed the back of his neck.

“You’ve never been this excited,” Siau said.

He took the dog off his shoulders and took a few seconds to hold him close to his heart.